By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-828737.mp3
Dallas, TX – The 2010 U.S. Census is a year away, but thousands of census workers are on the job, starting this week. KERA's BJ Austin says they're canvassing neighborhoods to identify addresses for mailing out the census forms.
In the Dallas Census office, Jenna Steormann says two thousand people are fanning out across North Texas this week. There are about ten thousand canvassers working statewide - and thousands more throughout the nation.
Steormann: It's the largest peace time operation the nation has. And it has so much influence on the community. It's how more than 300 billion dollars of federal funds gets allocated back to our communities for schools, hospitals, community services. And it's also your voice in Congress. It's how the House of Representatives gets apportioned.
Steormann says they had no trouble finding Census workers in this down economy. Officials also say the wave of home foreclosures may present a challenge in locating displaced households.